
aassiill2_ib_ 
Book S ^ 



GPO 



The Essential Deity of Jesus Christy 
considered 



.IN A X.-^. 



SERMON 



BELIVEREI^ AT 



THE EAST MEETING-HOUSE IN BOSCAWEN^, 



ON 



LORD'S DAY, 



February 11, 1816, 



BY DANIEL STANIFORD, V.DM, 



CQJfCOED : 

PRINTED BY GEORGB HOUGH. 

1816. 






i 



"%. 



TO THE READER. 

The author of the following Discourse requests leave to 
suggest, that it was written after short notice, and under 
the pressure of bodily infirmities, without the slenderest 
wish or expectation that more publicity would attach to it, 
than would result from the delivery. In a view of its 
numerous defects, and the vast importance of the subject, 
he is reminded of the sacred prohibition, " thou shalt not 
offer the lame in sacrifice." Still, at the request of friends, 
it appears before you, and solicits that candor, for the 
exercise of which it furnishes abundant occasion. 






.X"^.^ 



I 



/In. 



f 



W 



4 



.5s 



Sermon* 



ST. JOHN, XIV. 19. 

Because 1 live, ye shall live also. 

My respected Hearers^ 

Corporeal infirmities preclude the propriety 
of a lengthy difcourfe at this time, or of my 
attempting to do jufticc to this copious and very 
interefting fubjcd:. Waving, therefore, all pre- 
liminary obfervations, it is remarked, that the 
paflage now quoted contains thefe two important 
fentiments, viz. That Jefus Chrift lives — And, 
That, becaufe he lives, all true believers in him 
fhall live alfo. With refpedt to the firft pofition, 
viz, That Chrift lives, fomc thoughts will be fug- 
gefted, in regard to the mode in which he 
exifts, and likcwife refpeding thfe extent of his 
life. Now Chrift lives independently. Every 
other being in the univerfe, except God, exifts 
in a dependent manner. Angels arc miniftering 
fpirits, dependent on God, and fcni by him to 
minifter to thofe of our race, who (hall be heirs 
offalvation. Heb. i, 14. Miniftfrs of the Gof- 
pel are fervants of the Moft High God, who 
fhew unto us the way of falvation. A£ts xvi, 
ly. Private Chriftians are entirely dependent for 
every thing they poflefs^ For we are not fuffi- 
cient ofourfclves, to think any thing as of our- 



4 

felves ; but our fuiBciency is of God. a Epiftle 
to the Corinthians, iii. 5. All rational beings 
cxift, move, and a£t, dependently. In God we 
live, move, and have our being. Ads xvii. 28. 
Irrational beings, like wife, exift in the fame 
xnoder G ici oiade the great leviathan to play in 
the great and wide fea. Inanimate matter is, in 
like manner, dependent. God is ftyled, in Scrip- 
ture, the Father of the rain ; he is faid to beget 
the drops of the dew. And he caufes the fun 
to (hine ; and he fealeth up the ftars with cloudy 
da\knefs of the night — But Chrift exifts inde- 
pendent and underivcd ; i e. in his Divine nature. 
Should it be afked, Whence does this appear ? 
Aniwer. t may be demonftrated by philofophy 
and by Scripture As it is preiumcd all prefent 
believe f he Scriptures, to avoid prolixity, inftead 
of feparare dedudions from each of the afore- 
mentioned fources, recourfc will be had pro- 
mifcuonfly to both, as occafion may require. 
Now, he who has an abfolute, uncontrolled 
power tocOir.municate, mud, in the very nature 
ofthinps, bt adually pofTeffed of the thing to be 
communicated. We read of Chrift in John vi. 
35. He it is thai giveth life unto the world; 
and Jefus V^hnft, the faithful and true Witnefs, 
has reltihed, in John xvii. 2. that he has power 
over all fleih, that he fhould give eternal life to 
as many as God the Father has given him ; and, 
in the text, he has promifed believers, that, bc- 
cauie he lives, they fhall live alfo. Confequently, 
Chrift muft pcflcfs life ; and further, he muft 
poflefs it cflenrially and independently ; elfe the 
beftt wment ol it, which he has promifed to all 
believers in iiim, cannot be fecured to them, 



3 

maugre all contingencies : for if Chrift poiTefles 
this life by communication or derivation only, 
and not inherently or eflentially, the fame Being 
who gaveii: may, perhaps, withdraw or recall it ; 
in which event, Ch rift's power fails, his promife 
refting thereon is annulled, and the believer's 
hope is blafted, and he muft inevitably fink in the 
profped: of eternal death. Says the Pfalmift, *' If 
the foundations are deftroyed, what can the rie;ht- 
eous do ? In vain may it be urged, in reply, 
that God the Father, who gives the power to 
Chrift, is a Being of infinite veracity, and cannot 
deny himfelf : he will therefore never, yea, he 
can never, recall it. It is re; lied, that his com- 
municating the power, together with his other 
attributes, or the fulnefs of the Godhead, to 
another diftindl, intelligent being, neceffarily de- 
ftroys his immutability ; and let it be afked, on 
what different foundation reds his veracity ? 
Why muft not all his attributes ftand or fall to- 
gether ? 

If any one thinks proper to adduce, in oppo- 
fition, that paffage, John v. 26. For as the 
Father hath life in himfelf, fo hath he given to 
the Son to have life in himfelf, it is replied, 
that the prefent obfervations exclufively refer to 
Chrift's Divine nature; whereas the paffage in 
view has fole reference to his human, as is evident, 
if we attend to verfe 27., where it is added, " and 
hath given him authority to execute judgment 
alfo :" becaui'e he is the Son of Man. It is con- 
ceived that the fentiment contained in verfe 26. 
is precifely this : That the firft Perfon in the Holy 
Trinity, defignated by the appellation of Father, 
did confent that the fecond Perfon, or the Son, 



fnouk!, in a myfterlous manner, unite himfelf to 
the huiTian foul of the Son of Mary ; in conf«- 
quence whereof, the complex character of God- 
Man, thus formed, ihould poffcfs an independent 
principle of life. 

The paiTage before us being thus explained, it 
is believed every mind may fairly be relieved fromi 
every d}fliculty ; as the common fenfe of all re- 
volts from the idea of giving or receiving an in- 
dependent: property ; which is as great a folecifm 
as the Jiffertion, that the fecond is the firft, or 
that tv^o is one, in arithmetic. 

Chriil's independence may alfo be demon ftrat- 
€(1 by his eternity* In John's i Epiftle, v. 20, 
Chnil is faid to be eternal ; i. e. he is ftylcd eter- 
nal life. Now if the phrafe, as it ftands, be 
infifted on, and the princspal weight of the ex- 
preffion be laid on the noun inftead of laying it 
00 the adjective and noun conjointly, ftill candor 
muftallov/, th cii Chvid pcssesser eternal life; and 
will any choofe to affert, that a being pofleffing 
an eternal attribute is not himfelf neceffarily 
eternal ? Now eternity paft implies retroceflion, 
and retrocclEon involves in it priority. Well, 
Chrift fays, Rev. i. i i. I am Alpha and Omega, 
the firft and the !aft. Now thofe verfed in the 
Greek language know very well, that there is 
no letter in its alphabet before Alpha; and the 
ll:hool-boy can tell you, there is nothing prior to 
tbefirft. Chrift then muft be eternal ; and as 
there was no being in the univerfe on whom he 
depended, or from whom he derived his exiftence, 
he muft confequently be felf-exiftent, underived, 
and independent. 



Again, Chrift's independent exigence may be 
demenftrated by his infinite fulnefs, or his pof- 
fefling all the atrributes of Deity, in the higheft 
poffible degree of perfedion. In Col. i. IQ. it is 
faid, It pleafed the Father that in him all fulnefs 
fliould dwell. Now if he poffefled this fulnefs 
by communication from God the Father, or de- 
rived it from him, what conception fliall we form 
of God, fubfequent to this communication of all 
his attributes to the Son ? Is the Father thereby 
cxhaufted, and ftript of all his glory ? He muft 
be, if all is communicated to another diftindt intel- 
ligence : but, if reafoB and the language of man- 
kind wo///^ permit us to aflert, that in Jefus dwells 
all the fulnefs of the Godhead, and ftill, that a pare 
of the Father's fulnefs was retained, does not the 
imparting of one, the lead iota, militate with the 
truth that the Father is immutable ? In what- 
ever light we view the fubjedt, the hypothefis, 
that Chrifl: cxilts dependently, by communicated 
life or derived exiftence, involves the greateft ab- 
furdities, expofes to numerous infurmountable 
difficulties, and, as it refpeds Gcd the Father 
and his Son Jefus Christ, let it be ferioufly afKed, 
how far it falls (hortof blafphemy ? Christ, then^ 
must poflefs his infinite divine fulnefs effentially^ 
inherently, independently ; he must then exist 
independently : becaufe, were he dependent for 
his existence, he must be dependent for every 
fubfequent acquifition. Furthermore, it would 
be preposterous, to predicate independent proper- 
ties or attributes of a dependent being. 

Again, Chrift muft be independent, as to his* 
exiftence, becaufe he has all the properties .of 
Deity ; or, in other words, is truly God. For 



proof of this, fee Exodus xxlii, 20. God fays^ 
Behold, I fend an angel before thee, to keep t-ice 
in the way ; beware of him, and obey his voice ; 
provoke him not : for he vi^ill not pardon your 
tranfgrefiions : for my name is in him. Well, in 
Exodus xxxiv, we arc informed, by God him- 
felf, what his name or character is, viz : The 
Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long- 
fuffcring, and abundant in goodnefs and truth, 
keeping mercy for thoufands, forgiving iniquity, 
tranfgreffion, and fin ; and that will, by no means, 
clear the guilty, &c. Now it is generally ad- 
mitted, that this angel is Chrift, and this name of. 
God being in him, and he being poffcfled of all 
the attributes that God is poffefled of, if he does 
not poflefs them independently, neither does God 
poflefs them independently ; and if God does not 
poflefs them independently, to whom is God in- 
debted for them ? from whom did he derive them, 
or on whom was God dependent ? But does not 
common fenfe and the feelings of all mankind 
revolt from the fuggeftion of a dependent God ? 
The Scriptures abundantly teftify, that Chrift is 
truly God. Job xix. 25. fays, For I know that 
my Redeemer liveth ; and that he {hall ftand, at 
the latter day, upon the earth ; and though, 
after my flcin, worms deftroy this body, yet, in my 
flefh, fhall I fee God. — Now I think no one will 
deny, that Job's Redeemer is Chrift, nor that 
by Redeemer, and God, in this paflage, is intended 
the fameperfon. In Pfalm xlv. 5. we read. Thy 
throne, O God, is forever and ever — this the 
Apoftlc, Heb. i. 8. declares, was fpoken by God 
to Chrift.— Ifaiah xl. 3. fays, The voice of him 
that cricth in the wildernefs, Prepare ye the way 



/ 



9 

of the Lord, make ftraight, in the defert, a high- 
way for our God. This text, St. Luke iii. 4. ap- 
plies to John Baptift ; whom all acknowledq:e to 
be ChriiVs precurfor; hence it appears, that ifaiah, 
and John Baptift, and St. Luke, all unite in 
ftyling Chrift God ; as does the angel, who ap- 
peared to Zacharias and predicted the birth of 
John; fee Luke i. 16. God fays, by Ifaiah, I 
am the Holy One of Ifrael, thy Savior ; and I am 
the Lord 5 and befide me there is no Savior ; but 
Chrift is, in numerous inftances, ftyled the Savior 
of mankind ; muft he not then be God ? Muft 
not the Holy One of Ifrael and Chrift be the 
fame ? In Jeremiah xxiii. 5. 6. we read, Be- 
hold, the days come, faith the Lord, that I will 
raife unto David a righteous Branch ; and a King 
fliali reign and profper ; and fhall execute judg- 
ment and juftice in the earth. In his days, Judah 
fhall be faved, and Ifrael lliall dwell fafely. And 
this is his name, whereby he (hall be called. The 
Lord, or Jehovah, or God, our Righteoufnefs. 
Will any deny that this refers to Chrift ? Read 
Ifaiah ix. 6. For unto us a Child is born, unto 
us a Son is given, and the government Ihall be 
upon his (boulder ; and his name fliall be called. 
Wonderful, Counfellor, the mighty God, &c. 
Who is this but Chrift ? See Matthew i. 23. 
Behold, a virgin fliall be with child, and ftiall 
bring forth a Son ; and they fliall call his name 
Emmanuel, which, being interpreted, is, God 
with us. Here the infpired Matthew expresfly 
applies the aforementioned words of Ifaiah to 
Chrift. Does not Thomas, in a tranfport of 
faith, fay unto Chrift, My Lord, and my God r 
B 



10 

John XX, 28. — Has not Paul, In Titus ii. 13* 
thefe words, " Looking for that bleffed hope, 
and the glorious appearing of the great God and 
our Savior, Jtius Chrift ?" I truft that no one 
will fugi^eft, that, in this paflage, the appearance 
of more than one Perfon is intimated ; as the ap* 
pearance of God the Father, on earch, is rarely, 
if ever, mentioned in Scripture. Paul, in his 
I Fpiftle to Timothy, vi. 16. ftyles Chrift the 
bltffcrd and only Potentate, the King of kings, 
and Lord of lords ; who only hath imniortality. 
The laft cited paflage, it is believed, eftabliflics 
the rflential Divinity of Chrift, beyond all con- 
troverfy. If we argue, as we fairly may, that 
if Chrift only hath immortality, and is an intel- 
ligent Being, diftind from the Father, then God 
the Father is mortal. Is it not a fair conclufion I 
Yet who would choofe to adopt it ? 

In Ads XX. 28. Paul, in his valedidory ad- 
drefs to the ciders of the church at Ephefus, com- 
mands them to feed the church of God, which 
he hath purchafed with his own blood. Now 
no one can reafonably deny, that by God, ia 
this paflage, the apoftle meant Chrift ; for God 
the Father did not flicd his blood for finners. 
Add to this, what is faid of Chrift in 1 Timothy 
iiu 16. God was manifcft in tbeflefti. By God 
here muft be intended Chrift ; becaufe it is add- 
ed, that he was preached unto the Gentiles, be- 
lieved on in the world, received up into glory ; 
whereas God, in the Perfon of the Father, is not 
fpcken of in Scripture, as the main fubjeft of 
preaching, or the objeft of faith ; nor was he 
ever received up into glory. And in Romans 
ix. 5. Of whom, as concerning the flefh, Chrift; 



11 

came, who is over all, God, blefled forever. 
Amen. 

Thus it may appear, from the general tenor 
of Scripture, that Chrift is called God ; the fame 
attributes that are predicated of ihe Father, are 
afcribed to the Son ; they are, in Scripture, called 
by the fame names, and addrefled by the fame 
titles ; and Chrift, when on earth, accepted the 
fame worfliip, adoration, and pralfe, that is com- 
manded to be prefentcd to God, and to him alone. 
And our Savior himfelf, as alfo his infpired fer- 
vants, apply to him, in the writings of the New- 
Teftament, many things that were fpoken of God 
in the Old. Thofe who are favored with Divme 
Revelation, and admit the Divinity of the Bible, 
all view what is therein predicated of God as 
going to eftablifh a character infinite, incompre- 
henfible, eternal, independent, felf-exiftent, om- 
nipotent, omnicient, amiable and good to an 
unbounded degree. And all mankind, even the 
heathen, conceive of God in the fame manner. 
And thefe attributes are what conftitute the char- 
ader of Chrift ; why then is he not God ? And 
if God, why does he not exift indtpendentiy ? 

It was likewife propofed to fuggeft fone things 
in regard to the extent of the life of Chrift. And 
that he exifts from eternity to eternity, the Scrip- 
ture fully reveals. That his exiftcnce was cbeval 
with God the Father's, is plainly intimated in 
Proverbs viii. from 22. to 30. where the wife 
man, fpeaking of him under the appellation of 
Wifdom, introduces her as fpeaking thus : '" The 
Lord poflefted me in the beginning of his way, 
before his works of old. I was fet up from ev- 
eriafting, from the beginning, or ever the earth 



was ; when there were no depths, I was brought 
forth ; when there were no tountahis abounding 
with water," &c. adding then, " 1 was by him, 
as one brought up with him.*' And that Ghrift 
is equal to the Father, in all things that relate to 
his Divine nature or effence, appears from Zech- 
ariah xiii. 7. Awake, O fword, again ft my 
Shepherd ; and againft the Man that is my Fel- 
low, faith the Lord of Hofts. This man muft 
be Chrift ; as no mere man can be ftyled Fellow 
with the Lord of Hofts ; and Chrift is the Shep- 
herd that was fmitten^ agreeably to the command. 
Well, eternity of paft exiftence is, by all, ac- 
knowledg;ed as an eflential property of the Lord 
of Hofts ; then Chrift, being his Equal, or Fellow, 
muft be eternal, as to his paft exiftence. And 
refpeding Chrift's eternal future exiftence, Paul 
to the Hebrews, vii. 2<. fays, Wherefore, he is 
able, alfo, to fave them to the uttermoft, that 
come unto God by him ; feeing he ever liveth, 
&c. 

Once more, read Chrift's own words, who is 
the faithful and true Witnefs. Rev. i. 18. Be- 
hold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And 
has not Chrift been viewed as an independent and 
eternal Being, by faints in all ages ? — But to 
come nearer home, permit the inquiry, my 
Chriftian friends, when you were convinced of 
your native finful and wretched ftate, were de- 
tached from your felf-righteous hopes, and faw 
nothing before you but guilt and defpair ; when, 
in the hour of mercy, God revealed his Son in 
you, aa the hope of glory, did you view Chrift 
as a dependent, derived being, ading merely by 
delegation or ojficiaily ; or was he revealed to you 



IS 

as an independent, felf exiftent, and alaiighty 
Savior ? Was it mere official grace in Chrift, that 
was diTplayed to your view, that induced you to 
fubmit, that drew ycu to him, as with the cords 
of love and the bands of a man, or was it the ef- 
fential grace of his very nature that you trufted 
in — rhat eflentially Divine compaflion of his, of 
which the apoftle fpeaks, in 2 Cor. viii. o. ? For 
ye know the grace of our Lord Jefus Chrift, that, 
though he was rich, yet, for your fakes, he be- 
came poor, that ye, through his poverty, might 
be rich. Did you view your finfulnefs and guilt 
in fuch a Hghr, that you could confidently truft 
the falvation of your immortal fouls in the hands 
of a dependent being ? Did you view the blood 
of fuch an one fufficient to atone- for fins fo great, 
fo heinoijfly aggravating, as thofe committed by 
you in a Gofpel land ? — fufficient to procure for 
you pardon, juftification, and eternal life ? Thofe 
of you who have lately made a profeffion of 
Chrift, lately had your attention occupi<?d about 
your foul concerns, been ferioufly anxious re- 
fpe(3:ing your future dcftiny, .and have obtained 
relief, and hope you are converted, what anfwer 
can you give to thefe queftions ? It is probable 
you may have a more diftindl: view of the fubjed: 
than fome others, who were converted years 
ago. 

I would therefore fuggeft to you, a recolleftion 
of your particular exercifes, at the time when, 
you hope, you were enabled to clofe with Chrift, 
in the tirft inftance ; and thence determine, 
whether you did embrace Chrift as he is exhib- 
ited in the Scriptures, i. e. as an independent, 
felf-exiftent, eternal, almighty, and infinitely 



14 

gracious being, one poffeffed of thofe adorable per- 
fedions effeiitially, inherently, in his own true 
original natuce ; or only by derivation, delegation, 
or office. Allow this inquiry to be made, my 
friends, becaufe to me it appears, ihat, on the 
didingui filing charafter of the Savior you em- 
brace, miiH: depend the diftinguiffiing nature of 
your faith and converfion. When a certain per- 
fon of whom we have account in John ix. 35. 
was interrogated by Chrift, whether he believed 
00 the Son of God, he replied, Who is he, Lord, 
that I (hould believe on him ? And after Chrift 
was declared to him, he faid, Lord, I believe : and 
worfliipped him. The apoftle, in Romans x 14. 
afks, How fliall they believe in him, of whom 
ihey have not heard ? By hearing of Chrift, it 
cannot be rationally fuppofed, that Paul here in- 
tends a merely being informed, that the Savior 
pr'opofed, as the objed: of faith and love, is Jefus 
Chrift, by name, or that he is the Son of God, 
in fo many words^ without any further explana- 
tion ; bin that the nature and charader of the Sav- 
ior be clearly exhibited to view ; before it can be 
expected, that lie be received. Suppofe one of you 
to be iick of a dangerous difeafe, and to feek re- 
lief; and further, that a certain phyfician be re- 
commended to you, by his name, but of whom 
you have no perfonal knowledge, would you ap- 
ply to him, nay, could you pftssibly confide in 
him, till you had learnt his diftinguiftiing medi- 
cal charader, or, after you had, on inquiry, 
found it in any material refpe(ft deficient ? But 
fhould you do it, would not obfervers, with pro- 
priety, conclude you did not view your difordcr 
of the moft dangerous kind ? So with refpeit to 



13 

the fubjedl under confideration : fuppofe a fin- 
fick foul to embrace a Savior, of whole nature and 
charader he is ignorant, or who is not exhibited 
as poffcffing the greateft poflible excellency, fuch 
as infinity and eternity of nature, ci -^^jjinal fulnefs 
of power, wifdom and grace, would not friends 
be led to fear, refped:ing your views of fin, your 
own guilt, and need of an infinite Savior? 
Would they not be led to doubt, whether you 
had fcen fin to be exceeding finful ; and viewed 
your criminality injinite ; when they find you 
relying, for pardon, juflification, and eternal life, 
on a finite atonement ; as that atonement muft 
afluredly be, which is made by a derived, de- 
pendent being? If Jefus Chrlft is indeed, and 
in truth, a felf-fufficient, independent, eternal 
and infinitely perfed being, and you believe in, 
truft and worfliip a finite, derived, dependent 
one, your Savior (pardon me if I lack candor) 
muft be an ideal or imaginary one, your faith 
vain, your confidence prefumptuous, and your 
worfhip idolatrous. Are you not then chargeable 
both with idolatry and difobedience to divine com- 
mands ? Foi we arc, in Scripture, firidly pro- 
hibited the worfliip of any intelligent being, i^p^ 
arate or diftind from Jehovah ; and God the 
Father has not only commanded the angels to 
worfhip Chrift, but alfo, ^^ that all men fhould 
honor the Son even as they honor the Father." 

But not to enlarge here, let us attend a little 
to the fecond propofition, viz. That becaufe Chrisn 
lives, all true believers in him fliall live alfo. 
Herein is comprized a gracious promife ; and it 
alfo implies an intimate, yea, an indifrolublc 
connexion between Christ's life and that of the 



16 

believer. Not, we apprehend, a natural or ne- 
ceffary connexion, but a constituted one. The 
connexion between Christ and the believer, Is, 
in Sciipture, reprefented by the union of the 
branch with the vine ; fee John xv. 5. and like- 
wife by the union of the cion with a foreign stocky 
by ingrafting. This kind of union or connexion 
is confidered, not as natural or neceflary, accord- 
ing to the establlfhed laws of nature, but a consti- 
tuted one. So, in the gofpel econenny, there is a 
constituted connexion between Christ and the be- 
liever, and the bond of union is faith. In the 
fovereign, gracious fchemc of redemption, God 
is pleafed to ordain, that Christ fhould die, to 
atone for fin; that finners, who refcmble the If- 
raelltes, bitten by the fiery flying ferpents, fhould 
behold him, as it were, lifted up on fhecrofs ; and, 
in confequence of a view of him, fhoild be heal- 
ed of their malady and finally faved. Or in oth- 
er words, Jefus Christ, having, purfuant to the 
covenant between his Father and him, made 
atonement for fin, and being exhibited as the ob- 
je(fl of faith, for guilty finners, and pofleffing all 
fulnefs, it is, in a fovereign and gracious way, 
rendered confistent for the Holy Spirit to com- 
municate to the finner that aflistance by which he 
is enabled to apprehend Christ, as an all-fufficient 
Savior ; and afterwards, from time to time, afford 
him that aid, by which he can renewcdly ad faith 
on Christ, and by divine constitution partake of 
all the benefits of his redemption. And this par- 
ticipation of the benefits of Christ's atonement is 
conceived to be what constitutes the believer's 
life. And when Christ promifes, that they fhall 
live, he intends by it, that they fhall first be 



/ 



17 

quickened by the Holy Spirit, to fplritual life, 
though naturally dead in trefpaffes and fins, that 
they (hall have, while in this world, a feries of be- 
lieving exeicifes, or a£ts of faith in Christ, in con- 
fequence whereof, all needed light, joy, holinefs, 
and grace, (hall flow into their fouls, from him in 
whom dwells all the fulnefs of the Godhead ; 
that they fhall receive from God the Father par- 
don of fin, complete juftification in his fight, 
adoption into his family, and a right to all the 
privileges of his children. Thcfe, and innumer- 
able other bleffingSy are enfured to the believer, 
in this life ; and at death, his holiaefs and happi- 
nefs (hall be perfected, by a continued, uninter- 
rupted and increafcd communication of Divine in- 
fluence to eternity, which will conflitute the be- 
liever's life in heaven. O I aflonifliing fcheme 
that of man's redemption ! Gracious plan ! 
What a fure foundation is laid in Zion, on which 
the penitent finner may reft his hope of eternal 
happinefs and glory, without a poflibility of dif- 
appointment : that is, Jefus Chrift, the chief 
corner-ftone, eleft and precious, Becaufe he lives, 
independently and eternally, the believer in him. 
fiiall live alfo. I mean not in the fame fenfe, ia 
the fame mode, but fpiritually. Becaufe he is 
poflTeflTed of infinite fulnefs, and that eflentially in 
his own nature, originally and inherently, and 
not by derivation : therefore, all the faint's wants 
fhall be fully fupplied, even to aa overflowing 
degree. As our Savior fpeaks, John vii. 38. He 
that believeth in me, out of his belly fhall flow 
rivers of living water. How much furer this 
foundation than that of a derived, dependent, 
finite Savior ! 

C 



18 



3lwprol)ement. 

What has been fuggefted is calculated toinfpite 
admirailon and gratitude. In a view of the grace 
manifefted in providing fuch an infinite and all- 
fufficient Savior for guilty finners, let the lan- 
guage of every heart be, Glory to God in the 
higheft drains; glory to God the Father, for 
laying help for us on one that was mighty and 
able to fave to the uttermoft. Glory to God the 
Son, who maDifefi:ed his compaffion for us, when 
he faid to his Father, in reference to the arduous 
work of cur redemption, Lo, I come, to do thy 
will, O my God ; thy law is within my heart. 
As if he had replied, " That gracious purpofc of 
thine, O Father, which thou intimateft, refpe(St- 
ing iinful man, is perfefily correfpondent with 
the inclination of my heart, and I am ready and 
cheerful to accede to the propofal" Glory to God 
the Spirit, whofe gracious concurrence in the 
vfcnderfu! plan fo evidently appears, from what 
he has done and is ftill doing (particularly in our 
land and in this place) in the application of the 
atonement Chrill made for us. 

Let Chriftians take encouragement from the 
gracious promife of the Savior in the text, " Be- 
caufe I live J yc fhall live alfo." It was fpoken 
to his difciples immediately, but extends to all 
who ever did or (liall truly believe on his name ; 
and infaliiably fecurcsto every believer, not only 
the implantation of a principle of fpiritual life in 
regeneiation, but alfo a fucceflion of holy exer- 
ciies through life and to eternity. Take courage, 
all you who believe in the independent and eternal 



19 

Savior ; though your faith may be at times 
weak, and you may, confequently, and in a 
view of your fpiritual leannefs, be harrafled with 
fears and doubts, and may be juft ready to con- 
clude againfl; the reality of your converfion ; yet 
look to Jefus, the Finifher, as well as the Author, 
of faith. Think on his gracious promife in the 
text, and believe his word, that you fhall live. 
And let it be your conftant inquiry, what you 
{ball render unto him for his love to fmners ; not 
as an equivalent therefor, but as the expreffion of 
holy gratitude. If you wifli to manifeft your 
gratitude, exert yourfelves in his fervice ; ftudy 
to promote his caufe, by laboring to bring others 
to the knowledge of him. Let your light (hine 
for their convidion ; recommend his religion by 
afuitable deportment. In this way you may 
honor God, increafe your comfo t, and, if it pleafe 
him to fmile on your exertions, you will be in- 
ftrumental of much good to others. 

And let fmners be entreated to come and build 
their hopes of future happinefs on the fure foun- 
dation laid for them in Zion, viz. the indepen- 
dent, felf exiftent, and almighty Savior of the 
Scriptures, the eflcntially, originally, and inher- 
ently wife, powerful, and good Emmanuel ; and 
then they will not fallacioufly difappoint you in 
the day of trial; as your ^h ope, if placed on any 
other bafis, afTuredly will : for, in the Lord, 
Jefus Chrift, or the Lord Jehovah, or Jehovah 
our Righteoufnefs, alone, is righteoufnefs to 
juftify, and power to fave. 






so 



The following Hymns were fiing on the day la 
which the foregoing Difcourfe was delivered : 
2d Hymn in the firft Book, 148th Hymn fecond 
Book, and i6th Hymn firft Book, 



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